Sheridan fingered the recently clipped sapphire and diamond earring, her fingers brushing against the shimmering gemstones, a gift from Luis on their fifth wedding anniversary. She smiled thinking about her husband, who was currently down stairs talking to the baby sitter about their children: the twins LJ and Martin, age eight; Katherine, age five and Kayla, age two. While she loved her children with all her heart, she was looking forward to the night out with Luis on the yearly celebration of their wedding anniversary. It was the same every year, he would buy her something to wear, send her a dozen mixed-colored roses and then pick her up at the bedroom at six pm for their seven o’clock reservations at the place they met: Buca di Beppo.

She smiled thinking about the first time they encountered each other at the restaurant just about eleven years prior. She had been a junior in college then, home on summer vacation, visiting with her mother and basking in the beaches of Maine, not that she ever swam in the icy cold ocean water. Closing her eyes, she could remember every aspect of the night in question, the night that changed her life forever…

Sheridan Crane followed her mother, Katherine, and a petite brunette into the depths of Katherine’s favorite Italian restaurant. Before they could even journey far, Sheridan’s senses were flooded by the sweet smell of the spices and the tempting aroma of marinara sauce cooking on a nearby stove. The overly Italian design of the restaurant, right down to “Italian” music, made Sheridan feel like she was in a small Italian Café and not a busy chain of restaurants from coast to coast. The first stop was a tour of the kitchen; the intention being to make the patrons feel more “at home” and welcome in the place they were eating. The woman smiled, explaining how the food was prepared in the open so people could feel comfortable and mentioning how the desserts were “to die for.”

After the kitchen tour, she led them up a brightly lit, green-carpeted stairwell to the upper level of the restaurant. The woman motioned to a vacant four-person table in a fairly empty room of the restaurant and promised that Luis would be with them shortly. Sheridan slid into her seat, watching for only a second as her mother read the board on the wall that contained the menu. Instead of selecting something from the menu, Sheridan found her eyes scanning the photos of Italy, Italian actors and artwork that adorned the walls. Her mind was elsewhere when her mother started talking, her sweet melodious voice filling the air.

“Sheridan…Sheridan, are you listening to a word I am saying?” Katherine asked, placing her white cloth napkin into her lap and folding her hands on the table.

“Huh? Oh, I’m sorry, Mother, I was just thinking,” Sheridan smiled, unfolding her own napkin and draping it over her thighs. “So, how does this place work, Mother? I’ve never eaten here before…”

“Never?” a deep, masculine voice gasped in mock surprise. “How could you never eat at such a fine establishment as ours?”

Sheridan rolled her eyes, turning to face the owner of the voice in question. She was surprised when she came face to face with a tall, buff, tanned twenty-something-year-old man with the most gorgeous brown eyes she had ever seen in her entire life. She couldn’t find a single thing to say as she looked at him, batting her eyes in disbelief when he pulled out the chair beside hers and leaned on the table. Who was he and just why was he intruding on their private “for women only” evening.

The man smirked, whipping out a pen and starting to doodle on the red and white paper placemats that rested against the table. “So, do we have any expert visitors to our restaurant sitting at this table or are you both novices?”

“I’m an expert,” Katherine smiled, even though it had been a year since she had visited the restaurant. She could never convince Alistair to join her and instead would come with some of the less uptight women from the country club.

“Novice,” Sheridan replied softly, a slight blush to her cheeks.

“Well, let me explain. Our food is heavy on the southern Italy side, so if you like Alfredo sauce you’re definitely in the wrong place,” he began, pausing when he noticed Sheridan had something to say.

“I don’t like Alfredo anyway,” Sheridan made a face, blushing when he smiled at her. Why was she so self-conscious around him?

“I like you already,” he winked, motioning to the giant board. “We believe in family style portions, that means they’re large but you feed your family. For two to three people we recommend our Buco per Due. The portions are just right for the two of you and you can ‘marry a baked specialty’ for only twenty-two bucks!”

Sheridan rolled her eyes, squeezing the lemon into her glass of water before dropping the peel in with a splash. “Mother, it’s completely up to you,” she told her, blue eyes barely skimming the food on the list. “I eat all of it anyway.”

Katherine nodded, quickly ordering her favorites from the list. Luis attempted to write them onto the corner of Sheridan’s placemat, but found his pen was dead. Grabbing her purse, Sheridan dug around inside of it and handed him one. “Here, on me,” her blush deepened.

He laughed, showing her that his pen started working but tucking the other into the pocket that rested over his heart. “Thanks, I’ll keep it for later. You know, though, this pen was just jealous of being replaced.”

“I know,” she smiled. “I can’t say I blame it.”

He smiled brightly, adding the last item to their order. “So, can I get you ladies a liter of wine to go along with this delicious meal?” he asked, motioning to the detailed wine list that sat in the center of their table.

“Would you like wine, Sheridan?” Katherine questioned, noticing how her daughter’s eyes seemed fixed on the handsome, young waiter.

“Anything you want, Mother.”

“Let’s do a liter of Pinot Grigio…”

Luis quickly added it to their order list on the corner of Sheridan’s mat and then removed himself from sitting beside her. “I’ll have that order right up, ladies,” he told them, sending Sheridan one more wink before politely nodding at Katherine. “And I’ll bring that wine in a moment,” he turned and left the room.

Sheridan sighed, looking at the tables around them. Of the eight, only two others had people in them: the booth directly across was filled with three awkward teens and the other booth to its right had a family of six just being seated. The room was relatively quiet, despite the music playing in the background, and Sheridan felt herself starting to float into daydreams. She was surprised when her mother started laughing. “What?”

“Nothing,” Katherine’s knowing smile bothered Sheridan. “So, how did you enjoy our day at the beach?”

“Despite the sunburn I can feel on my back, I really enjoyed our day together. It’s been a long time since we’ve had the chance to spend time together,” she grinned. “I’ve missed this.”

“Me too,” she nodded, starting to hum along with a song playing overhead.

Sheridan giggled, shaking her head. “I would never imagine you to be this outgoing, Mother. You always seem so…” she faded off, trying to find the right word and being unable. “Well this is definitely a new side to you.”

“Thank you, I think,” she winked at Sheridan, laughing.

Luis returned, carrying a large green bottle full of wine and two eight-ounce glasses. Sheridan’s eyes widened as she looked at the thick, old-fashioned coke glasses and the immense amount of alcohol in the bottle. “One liter of Pinot Grigio,” he placed the long-necked bottle on the table and then one glass in front of each woman. “Two glasses.”

“These are wine glasses?” Sheridan asked, lifting the heavy utensil in her hands.

“They are here,” Luis responded, laughing at her confused expression.

Katherine shrugged, pouring them each a glass of wine and then taking a large gulp from the glass. Sheridan’s eyes grew large as saucers as she witnessed her mother’s version of a sip. With a heavy sigh, she took a tiny sip of her own wine before gulping down the lemon-flavored water.

“I thought you drank wine,” Katherine pouted, looking a little angry about the purchase, especially if Sheridan was not going to help finish the bottle. “I wouldn’t have ordered a liter if I knew…”

“I do, Mother,” Sheridan took another sip to prove it. “I’m just thirsty and gulping it did not seem like an intelligent idea so I opted to drink my water first.”

“You might have a point,” Katherine drank again from her glass, causing Sheridan to roll her eyes once more. So much for sobriety.

For a long time they sat in amicable silence, Luis stopping by to bring their Cesar Salad and check their wine before taking orders from other tables. Sher’s eyes were constantly pinned on him when he was in the room, the blue orbs dancing in merriment when he brushed by her on the way out the door. Several times he delivered food to other tables, showing Sheridan and Katherine just what delicious items they were missing before winking at Sheridan and leaving once more. When their own food was brought, Sheridan found it impossible to focus on her dish as Luis was starting to give the welcome speech to a new party of people directly in her eye line. She definitely liked this view of him as well, though twice he caught her staring and made her blush.

Katherine engaged her daughter in conversation, her manner completely different as she finished two full glasses of wine before Sheridan finished the better part of her first. It didn’t help that Luis poured the remaining wine into Katherine’s glass, causing the older woman’s tongue to be looser that it had ever been before. Sheridan, who found herself revealing her deepest and darkest secrets to her mother, could not believe the transformation in the woman. Thought they usually shared their stories, Sheridan had been keeping these particular two to her self instead of telling her family, even though Katherine had managed to draw them out accidentally that night. Sheridan couldn’t believe her fumble about Jason when Katherine asked about James, her most recent boyfriend. She was hoping they would be forgotten, but was proved wrong. As the room slowly cleared of people, leaving Katherine and Sheridan as Luis’ only customers, the older woman made things more interesting.

“Luis,” Katherine caught him as he walked by. “Did you know that my daughter’s more recent boyfriends, Jason and James, broke up with her for no good reason! She’s quite a catch you know, they hardly know what they are missing.”

Sheridan glowed bright red, burying her face into her hands. “Mother!” she shrieked. “Dear Lord, I’ll be under the table if anyone needs me.”

“Sheridan!” Katherine laughed at her tomato-faced daughter. “It’s not that bad,” she motioned to Luis, who looked semi-interested in the conversation. “You might never see this man again. Letting him know that you are worth your weight in gold isn’t a terrible idea!”

“Mother!” she mumbled. “Luis, I’m sorry. It looks like someone can’t hold her liquor.”

He laughed. “I noticed.”

Sheridan smiled tensely, shooting her mother a look. “Shush!”

“Can I get you ladies anything else…Latte? Cappuccino?” he asked, not only completing his job but also defusing the situation.

“I could use a mocha,” Sheridan sighed, looking at the finished wine.

“Oh can I get that for you with whip cream?” Luis teased, the words dripping with sarcasm. “I’ll even put chocolate dust on top.”

“Such a smart ass,” Sheridan glared at him. “I’ll have a Cappuccino!” she huffed.

“Me too…and an order of tiramasu for the two of us,” Katherine smiled.

“Mom, I don’t know if I can eat another bite,” Sheridan thought about the unfinished food from dinner. “Who knows what size this dessert will be!”

Katherine laughed, expecting a relatively normal sized dessert to appear and not heeding the argument from her daughter. They had discussed dessert, thinking that the order would be small, but Sheridan still wasn’t sure she could eat it. Not two minutes later, Luis returned with a large soup bowl of tiramasu for the two of them, two forks lying in an X on top. The pair decided to take it to go for their ladies night of television and talking.

Luis brought them the bill, his eyes meeting Sheridan’s as he placed it on the table. “Thanks again for the pen.”

“No problem,” she whispered. “Hopefully we’ll see you next year on our girl’s night out.”

“Not so sure,” he replied with a shrug. “I’ll be working Buca Boston by then…college.”

“Oh,” Sheridan looked disappointed. “And here you know all about my recent romantic life and I won’t ever get to fill you in on the rest,” she tried to tease.

“Who knows…” he smiled. “We might meet up again…”

And they did. Luis showed up at her door two weeks later, red roses in his hands. It turned out Katherine had left Sheridan’s address and phone number at the restaurant for him and he had immediately started working up the nerve to find her before he left for college. Tucked away in the roses he brought her was a pack of pens just like the ones she left him. She laughed when she saw them and knew right away she had found her true love.

Two months later they were engaged, ten months after that married on the one-year anniversary of their first meeting at the restaurant. They had Buca do the catering and decided that every year they would celebrate their meeting by going to their Italian restaurant. It was, after all, the start of their romance.

“Come on, Sheridan, we’re going to be late,” Luis rapped on the bedroom door, pushing it open slightly and taking in the beautiful sight of the woman before him. “Wow.”

“Thank you, you’re looking quite wonderful yourself, Mr. Lopez-Fitzgerald,” she smiled. “And I’m ready. I just lost track of time thinking.”

“Oh, and what were you thinking about?” he asked, offering her his hand as they left the bedroom.

She slid her smaller hand into his, their fingers entwining as they walked out of the house. “Oh, not much,” she giggled. “Just our Italian restaurant.”

“The first time?”

She nodded. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Sher. Forever and Always.”

Katherine watched them leaving from the window of the living room, little Kayla in her arms. The tiny brunette laid her head on her grandmother’s shoulder, a tan thumb tucked away in her mouth. The older woman smiled, kissing her granddaughter on the head. “You know, Kay, I’m really glad I was craving Italian food that night or else Mommy might never have gotten the nerve to ask Daddy out.”

Kay continued to suck her thumb.

Katherine laughed. “It’s still my favorite restaurant,” she closed the blinds on the lovers that were lost in the anniversary of a special day.

The End

Disclaimer: This story in is in no way meant to infringe upon the rights belonging to , NBC, or any entity thereof. All rights to Passions and any related content, including characters used, belong to "Outpost Farms Production Inc", James E. Reilly, and NBC.
This story is the property of the author. Copyright 2002. Nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without the written permission of the author.
Our Italian Restaurant- Copyright © 2002 - All Rights Reserved.